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Abstract

Despite its apparent efficacy against gram-positive organisms, vancomycin has been relegated to second-choice status, largely because of reports of auditory and nephrotoxicity. The increased purity of today's preparations has virtually elemented the risk of nephrotoxicity (1). Ototoxicity, however, is still considered a threat in patients with impaired renal function, despite the fact that all the evidence comes from reports of patients who received other ototoxic drugs or who had pre-existing deafness (1-3). We review the relevant literature and report a case of ototoxicity in a patient with normal renal function who was treated with vancomycin and rifampin but no other